Crews on weather alert

EMERGENCY crews are on standby this weekend as more vicious weather threatens to thrash the Sunshine Coast.

Blocks of torrential rain drenched parts of the Coast yesterday with reports of a landslip at Gilliland and Donnellys Road, near Cooroy.

More heavy rain and possible thunderstorms are predicted to thump the Coast this weekend with maximum temperatures only reaching the mid-20s.

Yesterday, downpours and wild wind across Noosa played havoc at the yacht club for young sailor Elle Lefaou and her companions as they attempted to head out on to the water for a lap.

At Maroochydore, youngsters were happy to play in the foamy seas whipped up by the stormy weather.

Weatherzone forecaster Micaela Weber said rain and thunderstorms would not ease on the Coast until Wednesday at least.

“There is more rain, unfortunately, and you could see a thunderstorm in the afternoon,” Ms Weber said.

Monday will be worse, she said, with heavier falls and a greater chance of thunderstorms.

Ms Weber said the Capricornia district, which includes the already flooded Rockhampton, would be hit the hardest.

Meanwhile, in a Special Climate Statement released yesterday, the National Climate Centre of the Bureau of Meteorology compared conditions at the end of 2010 with the 1970s and 1950s, both of which saw major flooding in Queensland.

The bureau said the rains of late last year took place during a very strong La Nina event in the Pacific Ocean.

“Previous strong La Nina events, such as those of 1974 and 1955, have also been associated with widespread and severe flooding in eastern Australia,” it said.

Large parts of Brisbane were flooded during these conditions in 1974 and there was protracted flooding in Queensland in 1954 in areas similar to those currently awash.

Dozens of rainfall records for eastern Australia fell during December.